The Hardest Part of TravellingSeeking Out New Places Makes It Difficult to Return Home

WORDS Kadii Higdon

‘Travel is the only thing you buy that makes you richer.’ – Unknown

The hardest part of travelling isn’t the plane ride 1,000 miles away by yourself, the foreign food, or the strange bed you sleep on. The hardest part of travelling is coming back home. It’s wonderful to explore the world, meet amazing new people, gain new experiences, and ultimately find yourself, but then reality hits when you return home.

When you get back, it’s a high for about two weeks. Basically a celebrity, you are the revered person everyone wants to hang out with, and hear about your trip and your experiences, but what happens when you become just a regular person again?

The high wears off fast and you find yourself in this weird depressed slump. All you can think about is packing your bags and taking off to a new destination.

Everything is the same at home, I mean sure people have new jobs, new boyfriends, and progressing in some way in their lives, but it still feels the same.

It’s you that’s different when everything around you is the same. Each place on your travel log has changed you, and moulded you, and has helped shape your perspective of the world in some way.

Hiking the Ausangate Trek – one of the most scenic hikes in Peru. The trek is fairly difficult but worth it, with the most stunning scenery. It’s one of the most beautiful treks I have ever been on, even though I did get stuck in the rain on one part of the hike. Photo: Kadii Higdon

After a trek on the Inca Trail, I finally made it to the breath-taking site of Machu Picchu. I couldn’t think of a better way to reach the beautiful site than to hike for four solid days, camp out over night, and trek for eight hours a day. The trails can be challenging, but the views are incredible. It’s a hike you will never forget. Photo: Kadii Higdon

Playing ‘Duck, Duck, Goose’ with kids in a remote village in Senegal, while on a trip with Samaritans Purse, Operation Christmas Child, distributing shoe boxes to kids in different parts of the country. As you can probably see, I’m always happiest when I’m with the kids. Photo: Kadii Higdon

The little girl I fell in love with in Senegal while we were doing a shoebox distribution with Samaritans Purse, Operation Christmas Child. There were more than 200 kids at the distribution site, but for some reason, this child stood out to me. She had beautiful kind eyes and a heart-warming smile. Photo: Kadii Higdon

Giving a shoebox to a family in Senegal who we had just met after having a picnic lunch in a remote area. Our bus had gotten stuck, so we stopped to eat and get shade in the area when we met the lovely man and his family. Photo: Kadii Higdon

Standing amongst one of the seven wonders of the world, Petra, Jordan.
It is without a doubt Jordan's most valuable treasure and greatest tourist attraction. It is a vast, unique city, carved into the sheer rock face by the Nabataeans, an industrious Arab people who settled here more than 2,000 years ago. Photo: Kadii Higdon

Standing in front of the Dome of the Rock, an Islamic shrine located on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem. It is an important part of history for Muslims, Christians and Jews, but also has been a place of conflict for centuries. Photo: Kadii Higdon

A group photo after we finished painting at a day-care in Ghana. Fifteen of us met as strangers and travelled to five different countries together for nine months with Projects Abroad Global Gap year. It was one of the best journeys of my life. Photo: Kadii Higdon

Admiring Rome’s most famous icon, the Colosseum. It is thought that over 500,000 people lost their lives and over a million wild animals were killed during the people vs beast games hosted there. Photo: Kadii Higdon

Research shows that travelling has health benefits and helps develop skills you didn’t even know you had.

Places have broken your heart, and people’s stories have impacted you, and the world has shown you things that so many people will never experience.

Whether it’s playing with the kids in the townships of South Africa, renting a moped in Thailand, swimming in the ocean in Indonesia, talking to locals, trying new food, every single one of these experiences has affected you.

It’s weird to think that the people you meet across the world, from different countries and cultures, can have more in common with you, than those you grew up with or have known your whole life. But sometimes it feels like this is the case.

The more you travel, the more your friendships from home begin to fade. Unlike the people who seem content to remain in one town or city, you’re constantly craving a new experience or adventures. There are some people don’t understand why you can’t just settle down.

But settling down isn’t on the agenda. Instead, you dream about where you’d rather be.

The goodbyes are always hard, but you know there is another hello around the corner from someone new.

So whether it’s washing dishes in England, injuring your foot in Peru, your flight being hours late, or hiking in flip-flops, these experiences always make the best stories. Why? Because they are out of the ordinary – pushing you out of your comfort zone.

Travelling isn’t always rainbows and butterflies, but it’s exciting and amongst all the crazy things, you somehow find yourself.

I think that’s why I constantly yearn to travel, because each place I go, I learn more about myself, and a piece of my heart stays there.